Spiritual supremacy

Spiritual supremacy¹

    The devil, or fallen archangel along with him other rebellious angels have always wanted to impersonate various characters under which they demanded to be given glory. The meaning of the name Lucifer, is "star of the dawn." In various Semitic languages it also occurred as Ashtar, Ishtar or Ashtarte. The Bible mentions several places whose names suggest areas dedicated to the Canaanite god Baal, such as Baal-Peor (4Moj 25:3), Baal-Safon (2Moj 14:2), Baal-Gad (Josh 11:17), Baal-Hermon (Judg 3:3). The etymology of these names indicates that Baal was considered the lord of these places. It was believed that the abundance of crops and the prosperity of the inhabitants depended on this idol. People tried to win his favor with offerings and rituals at his places of worship. The Bible also mentions other spiritual authorities by name, such as Dagon (Judges 16:23), Moloch (3Moj 20:2), the queen of heaven or Artemis or Diana (Jer 44:17, Acts 19:28). We have examples of other "national" spiritual authorities in the following passage from God's Word.
(1 Kings 11:33): "Because he forsook me and worshiped Ashtaroth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Kemosh, the god of Moab, and Milcom, the god of the Ammonites (...)."
Probably the first mention in the Bible of spiritual powers manifesting in a particular person is the passage about Nimrod.
(1Moj 10:8-12): "And Kush gave birth to Nimrod, who was the first mighty man on earth. He was a valiant hunter before the Lord. Therefore it is said: A valiant hunter before the Lord like Nimrod. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babylon, Erech, Akkad, and Kalne in the land of Synear. And out of that country he went into Assyria, and built Nineveh, and Rechovot-Ir, and Kalach, and Resen, a great city between Nineveh and Kalach."
The name Nimrod, translates as "rebel." The Bible does not mention that man, after his fall, was given power from God. Nimrod is portrayed as the first mighty man on earth. Perhaps this is how spiritual powers used man for their purposes.

    Some of the spiritual powers acted over large territories for long periods of time. In Daniel 10, we read that the demon prince in charge of Persia was so powerful in his territory that he delayed answering Daniel's prayer for three weeks. He was overcome only by the intervention of the archangel Michael. This example shows that territorial spiritual powers have power, but it also shows that the prayer and fasting of believers can effectively bind them. The Lord God is jealous of His creation. People who worshiped other idols were committing "spiritual immorality." The following passages prove this conclusively.
(Ez 20:27-31): "Therefore, O son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Almighty LORD, Yet with this your fathers have offended me, that they have committed adultery against me, when I brought them into the land which I had sworn to give them, when they saw any high hill and any spreading tree, they offered there their bloody sacrifices, and brought their fervent gifts, there also they offered their pleasant-smelling sacrifices, and there they poured out their liquid offerings. And though I said to them: What is that hill to which ye go out? Yet it was called the hill of sacrifice until this day. Therefore say to the house of Israel: Thus saith the Almighty LORD, Will ye defile yourselves in the manner of your fathers, and practise harlotry with their abominations? When you offer your gifts, bringing your own children through the fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. Shall I let you counsel me, O house of Israel? As I live, saith the Lord Almighty, I will not let you counsel me!"
(Judges 8:33): "And after the death of Gideon the children of Israel turned away from the Lord, and began again to practise fornication with the Baals, and set up for themselves the god of Baal Berit."

From time to time, Israel's leaders returned to the one true God, contributing to a spiritual awakening.
(1 Kings 15:11-12): "Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just like David, his forefather. He drove out from the land those who practiced cult worship, and he removed all the idols that his fathers had made."
(2Krn 17:3-6): "And the Lord was with Jehoshaphat, for he walked in the ways that David his forefather once walked, and he sought not Baals, but he sought the God of his fathers, and he followed his commandments, and not as Israel did. (...) And walking in the ways of the Lord, he took courage again, and removed from Judah the temples on the hills and the asherahs."

    The Bible treats spiritual powers as beings, not just some symbols of evil. The spiritual nature of man finds its satisfaction either in fellowship with God or in false religiosity. The choice of independence from God also had its consequences in man's longing to seek help in the spiritual realm. The devil takes advantage of man's pragmatism, which manifested itself in offering sacrifices to idols, in the hope that by doing so they would influence their fate. Glorification has always been the goal of demonic powers and the effectiveness of these sacrifices must have been apparent to people. Demonic powers demanded worship and sacrifices. Human sacrifices, especially of the firstborn son, or better yet, of the heir to the throne, carried the most spiritual power. Below we have a passage that testifies to the demand for sacrifices by spiritual principalities.
(2 Kings 3:24-27): "But when they came up against the Israelite camp, the Israelites sprang up and struck at the Moabites, so that they fled before them. (...) When the king of Moab saw that he must fall in this battle, he gathered around him seven hundred men who were still fit for battle, and tried to get through to the king of Edom, but they were not able. Then he took his firstborn son, who was to succeed him, and laid him as a burnt offering on the wall. As a result there was a great outcry against the Israelites, so that they had to leave him and return to their land."
The Israelites prevailed against the Moabites until the king of Moab offered Kemosh, the idol of that country, his son and heir to the throne. This sacrifice strengthened the power of this idol in the area so much that the Israelites had to retreat. A similar situation occurred at Jericho. Joshua, after capturing the city, placed a curse on it at God's command.
(Josh 6:26): "At that time Joshua had the people take an oath: Cursed be the husbandman before the LORD who shall undertake the rebuilding of this city, Jericho! On his firstborn shall he lay its foundation, and on his youngest shall he set up its gates."
During the reign of Israel's king Ahab, Baal worship developed, also Joshua's curse was broken by offering human sacrifices to spiritual superiors.
(1 Kings 16:30-34): "But Ahab the son of Omri acted worse in the sight of the LORD than all his predecessors. (...) And he took Jezebel the daughter of Etbaal king of Sidon to wife, and served and worshiped Baal, and built an altar to Baal in the temple of Baal, which he built in Samaria. And Ahab had Asherah made: and he did such deeds, which provoked the anger of the LORD God of Israel, more than all the kings of Israel, his predecessors. It was in his days that Chiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. On Abiram, his firstborn, he laid its foundations, and on Segub, his youngest, the gates, according to the word of the LORD which he had spoken through Joshua the son of Nun."
The Lord God did not allow human sacrifices.
(Jer 7:21-23): "Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Add your burnt offerings to your blood sacrifices, and eat meat; for I said nothing to your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, nor did I command them anything concerning burnt offerings and blood sacrifices, but only this commandment did I give them, saying, Listen to my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people; walk wholly in the way that I command you, that it may prosper for you!"
(Jer 7:31): "They built the sacrificial place of Tofet in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command and which did not even occur to me.”
The Lord God Himself made the greatest sacrifice in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. God's sacrifice released the tremendous spiritual power of the Resurrection. Everyone who accepts it will receive salvation to eternal life and spiritual power to resist the devil and sin. All idols are just idols, but worship and sacrifices to idols are tantamount to worshiping the demons behind the idols. The apostle Paul clearly writes about this.
(1 Corinthians 10:19-20): "What then do I want to say? Is it that meat sacrificed to idols is more than meat? Or that an idol is more than an idol? No, I want to say that what they sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons."

    Spiritual powers granted their patronage in exchange for worship. In this way, local, national or territorial pacts with deities were formed, behind which demonic powers were hidden. The oldest pacts were formed in the East. The geographical area between the 10th and 40th degrees north latitude, encompassing Africa and the Near and Far East, is known as the "10/40 Window. It is inhabited by the largest percentage of the world's poorest population and the largest percentage of those who have not yet heard the Gospel of Christ. This geographical area is the cradle of the largest unbiblical religious systems. The spiritual practices of the people allow either God or Satan and his demons to influence their lives and the fate of the area they inhabit. God alone is due all honor and glory. He Himself makes this clear in His Word.
(Hos 6:6): "For I want love, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God, not burnt offerings."
(Matt 12:7): "And if you were to understand what it is: I want mercy and not sacrifice, you would not condemn the innocent."
Prayer, fasting and sacrificing oneself to God extends the lordship of the Lord Jesus Christ.
(Rzy 12:1): "I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercy of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, for this should be your spiritual service."

    The worship of spiritual superiors other than the Lord Jesus Christ reinforces the authority of Satan's kingdom. In most religious systems, especially in the occult, there are various kinds of sacrifices, oaths and rituals whose primary role is to bind and place man under the control of spiritual powers. The Latin word "religere“, from which the term "religion" is derived, literally means "to bind." The functioning of all religious systems is based on the principle of "do", which actually binds a person to the spirit of religiosity. Biblical Christianity comes down to the Person of Christ and is based on the principle of "done." God in the Person of Jesus Christ has done on Golgotha all that is necessary for our salvation. Man is left only with the choice to accept or reject this divine gift. In the first centuries of Christianity, most pagans were converted to Christ as a result of the preaching of God's Word confirmed by signs and wonders of healings, resurrections and exorcisms.
(Mar 16:20): "But they went and preached everywhere, and the Lord helped them and confirmed their word by the signs that accompanied it."
(Acts 14:3): "And they stayed there for a long time, speaking boldly in confidence to the Lord, who confirmed the word of his grace by signs and wonders which he worked through their hands."
In other passages of the Bible we read of confrontations with the forces of darkness.
(Acts 8:5-7): "And Philip reached the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And the people received attentively and unanimously what Philip said as they heard him and saw the miracles that he performed. For unclean spirits came out with a great cry from many who had them, and many who were paralyzed and crippled were healed."
In his missionary work, the apostle Paul confronted and drove the spirit of witchcraft and the spirit of divination out of people.
(Acts 13:8 -12): "But the sorcerer Elymas, as his name is translated, came up against them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith. And Saul, also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his eyes on him and said: O thou full of all deceit and of all perversity, thou son of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness! Wilt thou not cease from perverting the straight paths of the Lord? Behold, now the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, and for a time thou shalt not see the sun. And immediately darkness and gloom overtook him, and he walked about, looking for someone to lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul, having seen what had happened, believed, being impressed by the teaching of the Lord."
(Acts 16:16-18): "And as we were going to prayer, it happened that we were met by a certain girl who had a soothsayer's spirit, and who by her divination brought great profit to her masters. This one, following Paul and us, cried out, saying: These people are servants of the Most High God and are proclaiming to you the way of salvation. And this she did for many days. At last Paul, weary, turned to the spirit and said: I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And at that moment he came out."

The missionary experiences of the apostle Paul, which we read about in the passages above, prepared him for the spiritual battle in Ephesus, and this is the leading theme of the Epistle to the Ephesians.
(Eph 6:12): "For the battle is not with flesh and blood, but with the powers above, with the rulers of this world of darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavenly realms."
Paul helped to partially bind the territorial spiritual sovereignty over Ephesus and the surrounding area. Then for two years he reaped a harvest of conversions to Christ in that region.
(Acts 19:1-20): "While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul went around the highlands and came to Ephesus (...) And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues, and prophesied. (...) From then on he went to the synagogue for a period of three months, giving bold talks and convincing about the Kingdom of God. And when some were not persuaded and persisted in their obstinacy, speaking evil to the people about the way of the Lord, he broke with them, separated the disciples, and began to teach daily in the school of Tyrannus. And this went on for two years, so that all the people of Asia, Jews and Greeks, could hear the word of the Lord. And extraordinary miracles were wrought by God through the hands of Paul, so that even the handkerchiefs or girdles which touched his skin were carried to the sick, and sicknesses departed from them, and evil spirits went out. (…) And many of those who believed came and confessed and made known their deeds. And many of those who were devoted to witchcraft carried away the books and burned them in the sight of all; and they counted up their value and found that it amounted to fifty thousand silver drachmas. Thus the Word of the Lord grew mighty and strong and spread.."

    Yes, as we read in the above and continuing passage (Acts 19:23-20:1), the spiritual battle over Ephesus did not end with the establishment of the church there. There was still spiritual opposition in that city. Ephesus was the spiritual gateway to Asia Minor and probably further into Europe. A spiritual supremacy, called Artemis or Diana of Ephesus, dominated the territory. Another name for this spirit was the queen of the heavens. The temple dedicated to her was one of the greatest buildings of antiquity. It was counted among the seven wonders of the world. It was supported by 127 columns with a height of 27 meters. Each of them was founded by a different ruler from this and neighboring territories. This may show how large the territorial range of the worship of the Queen of Heaven was. In the temple there was an altar with a statue of Artemis. The tradition of local beliefs stated that the statue fell from the sky. Its replicas were made in Ephesus and sold to numerous pilgrims. It was very good business. When the apostle Paul tried to dissuade the inhabitants from the worship of the queen of heaven, he met with spiritual opposition in the form of protest from those who profited from it. As a result, Paul had to withdraw. It is interesting to note that the Lord Jesus gave a similar message about Satan in relation to what the followers of Artemis of Ephesus believed.
(Acts 19:35): "And when the scribe of the city had calmed the crowd, he said: Ye men of Ephesus, who among men know not that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the great temple
Artemis and the statue that fell from the sky?"
(Luke 10:18): "So he said to them: I saw Satan like lightning fall from heaven."
Also in the Book of Revelation we read an analogous statement.
(Rev12:7-9): "And a battle broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was cast down, the ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him."
The successful missionary activity of the apostle Paul and his associates weakened the influence of the queen of heaven in Asia Minor. However, this spiritual battle was a preparation for the direct confrontation with this spiritual supremacy that was to take place at God's well-defined time. God's instrument in overcoming this territorial spiritual binding was the apostle John. Yale University professor Ramsay MacMullen states in his book "Christianizing the Roman Empire, A.D. 100-400" that John, at the express command of the Holy Spirit, entered the temple of Diana of Ephesus to drive this demonic supremacy out of the place in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Early Christian writings state that the apostle John uttered the following prayer: "God, at whose name every idol, demon, and unclean power flees, let the demon of this place flee at your name." Immediately after this prayer, the altar of Diana fell to pieces and part of the temple collapsed. The Ephesians and the pilgrims were so impressed by this event that most of them gave glory to the one true God in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. This spiritual breakthrough in Ephesus translated into a territorial expansion of the influence of the Gospel of Christ in Asia Minor and Europe. However, a few centuries later, Christianity succumbed to pagan influences and the worship of the Queen of Heaven was renewed. On the site of the former temple of Diana of Ephesus the church of the Blessed Virgin Mary was erected. In ancient times, the queen of heaven was worshipped as Ashtarte, Artemis, Isis, Ishtar, Diana of Ephesus. When Christianity became the state religion, people not fully converted from paganism brought many unbiblical beliefs into the developing church tradition. In many modern countries, especially in Central America, a religious folklore is evident that is a compromise between nominal Christianity and pagan cults. The worship of the queen of heaven was transferred to Mary, the mother of the Lord Jesus, who probably spent her last years of life in Ephesus, under the care of the apostle John.

The Old Testament reports in several passages that the worship of the Queen of Heaven existed many centuries before the birth of Mary. We find references to this in the Book of Jeremiah, written in the sixth century BC. The Lord God clearly warned against worshiping a spiritual being who takes the form of the Queen of Heaven.
(Jer 7:16-20): "But you do not intercede for this people and make supplication or prayer for them, and do not insist on me, for I will not hear you! Do you yourself not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? Children are gathering wood, and fathers are making fire; women are kneading dough to bake cakes for the queen of heaven, and liquid sacrifices are being poured out to other gods to offend me. Do they offend me with this, says the Lord, or do they not rather offend themselves to their own shame? Therefore thus says the Almighty LORD: Behold, my fierce anger will be poured out on this place, on men and cattle, on the trees of the field and on the crops; it will burn and not be quenched."
By paying homage to and adoring the Queen of Heaven, people are submitting their lives, their localities, or even their countries to the influence of a spiritual supremacy that has demanded reverence for itself since ancient times. The Queen of Heaven impersonates Mary, the mother of the Lord Jesus. Mary was a God-fearing woman. She came from a Jewish family. She attended the temple in Jerusalem and probably also the synagogue in Nazareth, where the Torah and the Scriptures, including the Book of Jeremiah, were read. She later converted to the Lord Jesus Christ along with her birth offspring. Jesus' biological family was part of Pentecost, the first community of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in Jerusalem. Would the believing Mary want to be associated in any way with the worship of a demonic being that the Lord God condemned by the mouth of the prophet Jeremiah?

    To whom do people bow when they worship the queen of heaven? By worshipping the creature, we are worshipping Satan. Lucifer being the worship leader in heaven desired the worship due to God.
(Ez 28:13-17): "You were in Eden, the garden of God; your covering was all kinds of precious stones: carnelian, topaz and jasper, chrysolite, beryl and onyx, sapphire, ruby and emerald; of gold were your eardrums made, and your ornaments were made the day you were created. Next to the cherub who guarded the entrance I set you; you were on God's holy mountain, strolling in the midst of the stones of fire. You were blameless in your conduct from the day you were created until wickedness was found in you. In the midst of your vast trade you filled your innards with violence and sinned. Then I drove you out of the mountain of God, and the cherub that defended the entrance drove you out from among the stones of fire. Your heart was haughty because of your beauty. You destroyed your wisdom by the effect of your splendor. I have cast you down to the earth; I have set you before kings to mock you."
This peddler of lies and his demonic subordinates can take the form of figures that people revere. Can the devil take the form of the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ? The apostle Paul, having participated in active spiritual warfare, knew how the devil could disguise himself and use people for his purposes.
(2 Corinthians 11:14): "And no wonder; after all, Satan too takes the form of an angel of light."
(Matt 24:24): "For false messiahs and false prophets will arise and will perform great signs and wonders in order to deceive the elect as well, if possible."
It was the prophet Isaiah who wrote about Satan.
(Isaiah 14:12): "Oh, how thou art fallen from heaven, thou bright star, son of the dawn! You have fallen to earth, conqueror of nations!"
Satan in rebellion against God desired honor for himself.
(Isaiah 14:13-14): "And yet it was you who said in your heart, "I will ascend into the heavens, I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of discussion in the farthest north. I will ascend to the tops of the clouds, I will be on a level with the Most High.."
This desire pushes him to this day toward counterfeiting biblical Christianity, taking away the honor due Christ, and exalting himself in His place.

Let us examine the history of Marian dogmas, which have been proclaimed as indisputable teachings in the Catholic Church. Let us honestly answer the question: Do they serve to exalt Our Lord Jesus Christ or do they detract from His glory?

• In 431, the Council of Ephesus proclaimed the dogma "on the divine motherhood of Mary," which determined that "the holy virgin is the mother of God because she gave birth to the Word of God made flesh."

If we understand holiness as a voluntary separation for God, then the Bible confirms that Mary conceived of the Holy Spirit and gave birth to Jesus, who is the Son of God.

• In 649, at the Lateran Synod, Pope Martin I proclaimed the dogma "of Mary always virgin," which specified that "Mary of Nazareth was impregnated by the Holy Spirit without sperm, then gave birth while preserving her intact virginity."

Well, the Bible states that Jesus had his own brothers and sisters²whose mother was Mary.

• In 1854, Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma "of the Immaculate Conception of Mary," which specified that "Mary, at the first moment of her conception, by the special grace and privilege of Almighty God, for the sake of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original guilt."

God's Word clearly identifies Christ as the ONE, Who was born immaculate with sin.
(Heb 4:15): "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one experienced in all things as we are, except in sin."

• In 1950, Pope Pius XII promulgated the dogma "of the Assumption of Mary," which specified that "Mary without death experienced the Assumption."

The Bible attributes this fact to the Lord Jesus Christ alone.
(John 3:13): "And no one ascended into heaven but He who came down from heaven, the Son of Man."
The last two dogmas mentioned above have equated the Queen of Heaven with the Lord Jesus Christ, which is contrary to Scripture. Mary is also given titles such as "intercessor," "mediatrix," and "queen of the universe," which is contrary to the Word of God.
(1Tim 2:5-6): "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, to be testified in due time."
(Rev 19:13-16): "And he was clothed in a garment dipped in blood, and his name was the Word of God. (...) And on his robe and on his hip his name is written: King of kings and Lord of lords."
One can find information about preparations to define the dogma "of Mary's complicity in the redemption of mankind." This is in clear contradiction to the Word of God.
(Acts 4:12): "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we can be saved."

    During her revelations as Mary, the mother of Jesus, the queen of heaven demands the glory worthy of our Lord Jesus Christ. Are these demands consistent with the humble and God-fearing Mary portrayed in the Bible? Or, rather, with an impersonation of her spiritual superiority that seeks to take away the honor due to Christ. The argument that the queen of heaven hears and answers prayers is verified in the book of Jeremiah. The Israelites worshipped this spiritual supremacy without ceasing to believe in God. When the prophet Jeremiah delivered chastening words for this worship, the people found justification for their behavior.
(Jer 44:17-19): "Rather, we will gladly do all that we have vowed, and burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out offerings of liquids for her, as we and our fathers and our kings and our princes did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, and we had bread to eat and were happy and had no evil. But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out liquid offerings to her, we have lacked everything and are perishing by sword and famine. And if we burn incense to the queen of heaven, and pour out offerings of liquids for her, do we do it without the consent of our husbands, that we bake cakes for her, which are like her in form, and pour out offerings of liquids for her?"
Jeremiah relayed God's consistent warnings that this practice draws a curse and destruction upon the entire country because it is worship of the creature and not the Creator.
(Jer 44:21-23): "It was this burning of incense that you did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your princes, and the common people, that the Lord remembered and took to heart! The Lord could not bear it any longer because of your evil deeds, because of the abominations you committed, and therefore your land became a wilderness, an object of horror and curse, without inhabitants, as it is today. Because you burned incense and sinned against the Lord, and did not listen to the voice of the Lord, and did not follow his law, his commandments, and his testimonies, therefore this calamity befell you, as it is today."
As a result, God allowed the destruction of Jerusalem, the burning of the temple, and the captivity of the nation of Israel.

    If we choose to worship the creature, we allow our exit from God's authority and enter under the authority of the devil. Then by choosing independence from God, demonic powers gain the right to influence the lives of people in a particular area. The Bible gives us a number of examples of what these spiritual powers can do.

• Blind people to the Gospel of Christ.

(2 Corinthians 4:3-4): "And if even our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, may not shine to them."

• To mislead believers.

(2Tim 2:24-26): "And the servant of the Lord should not be contentious, but should be kind to all, able to teach, patiently enduring adversity, gently rebuking the wayward, hoping that God will some day bring them to repentance and to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will be freed from the snares of the devil, who is forcing them to do his will."

• Cause disability and disease.

(Luke 13:11-16): "And there was a woman, suffering for eighteen years, bent over so that she could not straighten up at all. (...) A Whether this daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had already bound for eighteen years, should not have been loosed from these bonds on the Sabbath day?"

• Manipulate religious and secular leaders.

(1 Corinthians 2:6-8): "We therefore preach wisdom among the excellent, but not the wisdom of this world, nor of the rulers of this world who are perishing; but we preach the secret, hidden wisdom of God, which God purposed before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this world have known; for if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory."

• Affect weather conditions.

(Matt 8:23-26): "And when [Jesus]. He got into the boat, and his disciples followed him. And behold, a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the waves covered the boat. (…) He said to them: Why are ye fearful, ye of little faith? Then he rose up, rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great silence."

    Surrendering yourself, your village, or your nation to demonic powers for protection, such as from misfortune, only seemingly improves the situation. In reality, it is a spiritual pact that results in the loss of God's blessing. People, towns, regions, or nations that submit to the protection of spiritual beings other than the Lord Jesus Christ plunge into spiritual darkness. To worship any other spiritual supremacy other than the Lord God is to bow to the devil. The result can be spiritual, social, or economic ruin. The history of Poland is a clear example of this devilish strategy. In the 16th century, Poland was one of the greatest European powers both economically, culturally, and militarily. It was known for its tolerance; people persecuted by European religious systems found refuge in Poland. A third of the Polish Sejm was Protestant. However, this was not because the majority of the electorate was Protestant, but because the Catholic electorate was guided by the competence of the candidates. As a result, the 16th century went down in history as the "golden age" of Polish culture in Europe. Protestants, such as Mikołaj Rej or Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski, also made significant contributions. The situation changed in the 17th century. As a result of the Counter-Reformation led by the Jesuit Order, dissenters began to be expelled from Poland. Polish Bibles and Protestant church buildings were burned. Tradition took the place of Scripture, the influence of the Word of God diminished, and the nation sank into spiritual darkness, evident in drunkenness, corruption, and religious intolerance. Initially, the education provided by the Jesuits stood at a high level. However, with time, due to the lack of competition from Protestant education, Jesuit schools became a hotbed of backwardness. The parochial nobility educated there became famous for blocking beneficial Polish reforms by abusing the "liberum veto" law. King Sigismund III Vasa, a counter-reformation Jesuit alumnus, moved the capital from the Protestant-infested Cracow to Warsaw in 1596. The gradual collapse of the country resulted in successive territorial losses of the Polish state. It is significant that the greatest decline occurred during the period when King John II Casimir made a spiritual pact proclaiming the Queen of Heaven as "Queen of Poland". The spiritual pact, made in 1655, has never been revoked. Since then, Poland has been through three partitions, two world wars, Nazi and communist crimes and other events. Is the cult of the queen of heaven imposed on Poland the only reason for the misfortunes that have befallen our country? Probably not, but what is puzzling is the fact that other countries which made similar pacts, e.g. in Latin America, functioned in backwardness for a long time. It is not only a matter of economic stagnation, but above all spiritual stagnation in the knowledge of God and the knowledge of God's Word. Countries that rejected the worship of the Queen of Heaven, e.g. Great Britain, Germany, Switzerland, developed at the same time.

    God's law, specifically the Biblical Decalogue, prohibits the worship of creation.
(2Moj 20:3-6): "You shall have no other gods beside me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image of anything that is in the heavens above, and on the earth beneath, and that which is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, who punishes the guilt of the fathers upon the sons to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me. And I show mercy to the thousandth generation to those who love me and keep my commandments."
Disobeying God's law puts us in the position of more or less consciously choosing to get out from under God's authority and come under the authority of the devil. There is no room for spiritual neutrality; we are under God's authority or under the authority of God's adversary. The only way out is to turn away from the worship of a spiritual being who has nothing to do with the blessed mother of our Lord Jesus Christ. To worship the queen of heaven is to worship the creature and not the Creator. Persisting in deception subjects us, our towns, our regions and our country to the control of spiritual powers that are not friendly to us. Nor are they friendly to God, although they profess to believe in Him.
(James 2:19): "Do you believe that God is one? You do well; the demons also believe and tremble."

    Finally, a warning from God's Word for each of us.
(1Pio 5:8): "Be sober, be vigilant! Your adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."
Let us be encouraged by the prayer of the Apostle Paul, a seasoned spiritual warrior with demonic powers. I believe it is a prophetic prayer for our spiritual discernment and the gift of discerning between spirits.
(Eph 1:15-22): "Therefore I too, since I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and of your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you and to remember you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation for the knowledge of him, and enlighten the eyes of your heart, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, and what riches of glory the saints share in his inheritance, and how exceedingly great is the greatness of his power toward us who believe through the working of his mighty power, which he showed in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in heaven above every superpower and authority and power and dominion and every name that can be mentioned, not only in this age but also in the age to come; and has put all things under his feet, and has established him above all things as Head of the Church, which is his body, the fullness of him who alone fills all in all."

1 The material in much of this text comes from a book titled. "The Invisible War for Your Life," by Alfred J. Palla http://www.bogulandia.pl/product-pol-1675-Niewidzialna-wojna-o-Twoje-zycie.html

2 See the text entitled. "Jesus' Family" on this website www.